"Mathematicians need proofs to keep them honest. All technical areas of human activity need reality checks. It is not enough to believe that something works, that it is a good way to proceed, or even that it is true. We need to know why it's true. Otherwise, we won't know anything at all."

--

Source : Ian Stewart (2007). “Letters to a Young Mathematician”, p.79, Basic Books

Ian Stewart

#Believe Quotes #Reality Quotes #Needs Quotes

“Everyone in comedy thinks if you go to the U.S. you become a global star but, unfortunately, I've always been a bit anti-American - so I never did.”
“My father was very disappointed by war and fighting. And he thought language could help us out of cycles of revenge and animosity. And so, as a journalist, he always found himself asking lots of questions and trying to gather information. He was always very clear to underscore the fact that Jewish people and Arab people were brother and sister.”
“For a long time that's all I could do, howl and scream and cry like the wild animal of the night that I'd become.”
“The fact is I think I am a verb instead of a personal pronoun. A verb is anything that signifies to be; to do; or to suffer. I signify all three.”
“I used to break a lot of clubs. I probably was a little different than your average junior player. I did have a lot longer hair and a lot more brown hair. But my demeanor, you know, really from maybe my second, third year on Tour, has gotten a lot more even keel.”
“We need to replace hyperbole with a reasonable, informed discussion about how to reinvent the federal budget with more transparency and better accountability.”

Source : "Reinventing the Federal Budget" by Mike Quigley, www.huffingtonpost.com. December 1, 2010.
“Taking pictures is like panning for gold. You do it again and again, and sometimes you find a nugget.”
“Secrecy breeds incompetence because where there is failure, failure is kept secret.”

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